see this series is good in a really specific way because a woman created it. and you can tell by the way the women in the show are written, it’s all so brilliant. michelle ashford is a genius actually. genuinely how did this show not win a million awards? i looked it up and it was nominated a little bit but not nearly as much as i’d expected, and among the nominations it didn’t have many wins (only 4 wins i think). very strange how unrecognised this show seems to be because this was one of the best first seasons to a drama series i’ve ever seen. i’m going to assume it wasn’t promoted well enough and blame it on that. but it was a decade ago and i was too young to be watching this then so i have no idea what the audience reception was at the time. this show in many ways reminds me of netflix’s sex education but with a more adult background. sex is the core and science is the focus, but it’s much more about people, relationships and society, and how they all interact with each other. and both the good and the damage they bring to each other. and it has a really good way of telling that story. i’m impressed that each of the characters alone felt whole, even the ones that didn’t have too much time spent on their stories. impressed by how the women carry the show, and even just in season 1 so far, it covered a pretty wide range of themes. i can only assume it will continue to get even better in all those areas as it progresses throughout the seasons. plus it’s historical and educational. while watching this season i was never too concerned with the accuracy of characterisations or events, or even how accurate the depictions were in comparison to the real william masters and virginia johnson. i didn’t know about masters or johnson beforehand and so i don’t even have anything to compare the show to. of course it’s partly fictionalised for the sake of dramatics and good storytelling. and i do know that this was specifically adapted from a book about them by thomas maier, so i do think i’ll be reading that after i’m done with the entire show. i’m also definitely wanting to read their human sexual response if i can locate a copy. so yes, i’m going to assume this is a lot more dramatic for the sake of television and a lot of blanks are conveniently filled to end up the way they did. other comparable reality based dramas i liked were the acs impeachment season from 2021 and the mrs. america miniseries from 2020, both of which were able to be entertaining and fairly accurate & respectful. seeing to how in other regards this show has done so well, i’ll just assume it did well in that area too. when watching i treated it as fiction though, the way the characters, plotlines and themes are all interconnected was done so so well. in a way that was genuinely creative and entertaining to watch. but then watching this and remembering that these two actually published this study for real and got that information out, just makes it better. just simply knowing its impact has always been more than good tv or well written fiction. need to add that when i was researching this show i found out that michelle ashford also produced mayfair witches …. ???? how …. how is this show so good and that one so bad 😭 i would give it five stars already but i’m holding out in anticipation that the following seasons will be better somehow, and so i can give one of them the 5/5. by the way- still not used to michael sheen’s sad attempt at an american accent. love him though